Minnesota Sports Forum

Adelman and Flip talked about wanting Kevin to be more of a facilitator this year, and he has responded in spades with 4 assists per game in the first 4 games. Even better, it hasn't had a negative impact on his scoring, as he is averaging 26.5 a game. Not to mention a ridiculous PER of 29.

Kevin is a Webber-like passing big man, but I see two big differences in him this year:

1) The addition of Martin and Brewer, two guys who like to move without the ball and execute back cuts, has given Kevin more assist opportunities. Derrick appears to be learning from the newcomers, because Kevin has hit him a couple times too. Bud's return will only add to his assist totals.

2) Love came out of college with a reputation for the full court pass, but we haven't seen it much in his first years. This year we are seeing it 2-3 times a game or more, and it really makes the team fun to watch. Again, Brewer and Martin are more likely to leak out than players we had on the roster in the past, so Kevin has more opportunities, and his touch on this difficult pass is extraordinary. Of course, Love and Pek's ability to block out and control the defensive backboard allows relatively poor rebounders like Martin and Brewer to feel comfortable leaving early and positioning themselves for his outlet pass. I would like to see Shabazz get a chance in this offense, because even though he is a very good rebounder, at UCLA he showed an ability to get out and score on the fast break too. Love to Shabazz could be a great full court connection.

We are not the most athletic team on the league by far, but we are an exciting team because of dunks that Kevin's passing leads to. That, and improved 3-point shooting, are the two biggest changes I have seen this year.

LST, Up until this season, this was one of the few holes in Love's game. We never really saw the passing ability on display that many projected when first being drafted out of UCLA. Yes, he has occasionally thrown some beautiful outlets over the years, but the pin-point pass to a cutter from the high post has been mostly missing. Now we're seeing both in spades and it's just a beautiful thing to watch.

Good post LST.

However last game was an indication that our 3pt shooting is still woeful. Martin made 5 of 8, the rest of the team 0 - 17. Besides Martin and ocassionally Love, we have no one who looks like hitting anywhere near to 40% from behind the arc. Shved and Brewer continue to prove their reputations as poor 3pt shooters, Barea is hot and cold like a tap an Budinger is out injured again. We really lack a Hoiberg type role player who can come in and be a consistent 3 point threat.

Love has certainly developed in to a good passer. I remember watching a preseason game and Love gathered a defensive rebound the threw a 3/4 pass to Brewer who finished with a jam. It was pretty amazing. Hopefully we will see plenty more this season!

f***ing Kahn

KiwiMatt wrote:Good post LST.

However last game was an indication that our 3pt shooting is still woeful. Martin made 5 of 8, the rest of the team 0 - 17. Besides Martin and ocassionally Love, we have no one who looks like hitting anywhere near to 40% from behind the arc. Shved and Brewer continue to prove their reputations as poor 3pt shooters, Barea is hot and cold like a tap an Budinger is out injured again. We really lack a Hoiberg type role player who can come in and be a consistent 3 point threat.

Love has certainly developed in to a good passer. I remember watching a preseason game and Love gathered a defensive rebound the threw a 3/4 pass to Brewer who finished with a jam. It was pretty amazing. Hopefully we will see plenty more this season!

It was even worse last night, kiwi...actually everyone other than Martin was 0-20! But The Wolves beat writer Jerry Zgoda actually made a good point this morning (unusual for him) that except for Love's final miss, almost all the missed threes were short...a sure sign of tired legs because of the extensive minutes the night before. That makes sense to me because they shot well from beyond the arc the first three games and in pre-season. I'm still optimistic about their 3-point shooting this year, and expect them to be around 36% on high volume...say 25 a game. I would like Love and Martin to take at least 16 of those 3's, and let the other guys shoot the rest only when they are wide open. Let's see how they do against Golden State. It will be a challenge with Iguodala guarding Martin.